Shen Moru hesitated and said uncertainly, “That shouldn’t be the case. They left suddenly, even we didn’t think of it. Presumably, the people hidden in the shadows would not have expected it either. After all, this is Shenzhou, they wouldn’t dare to be so fearless.”
But these words sounded hollow even to his own ears. Attacking the detention center, the shoot out in the streets, impersonating a national security bureau personnel, kidnapping, entering the interrogation room to commit an assassination, which one of these actions was not fearless and carried out without any scruple?
Mo Fei hesitated and asked probingly, “Should I send people to protect them?”
Shen Moru thought about it and shook his head. “There’s no need. If those people were going to make a move, they would have done so already. If they weren’t going to do anything, there’s no point in us sending anyone. Besides, they’re in a helicopter, surely those people wouldn’t dare to publically use heavy weaponry in Shenzhou. Furthermore, I heard the poison used on Monkey is moraceae. At most, he will survive for two hours. The Descendants of God will definitely believe he has no chance of survival.”
“Moraceae? Damn, that thing kills at the sight of blood. Isn’t it a waste of time for the doctor and Xiao Nuo to rush to Diannan?”
It was clear that Mo Fei had heard of how powerful moraceae was and was speechless.
“That’s because they’ve underestimated the young doctor. Although I don’t know what he did, since he is doing this, he must have some confidence. Hopefully, he can create another miracle.”
In reality, Shen Moru did not have much confidence in Ding Ning either but desperate times called for desperate solutions. He believed that Ding Ning was not an impetuous person. Since he dared to brave the danger of imprisonment to hijack a plane to go to Diannan and had also managed to convince Xiao Nuo to go crazy with him, presumably, he had a grasp of the situation.
“There is nothing to be done. However, until now, regardless of whether it was those mercenaries or the people of the Descendants of God, neither have used heavy weaponry. This means they are not completely without fear. I’m just afraid that they’ve set up an ambush ahead of time in Diannan which will catch us off guard.”
Mo Fei did not understand Ding Ning and felt that he was just messing around. But, it was better to have hope than to not have hope. Besides, Xiao Nuo was also involved and that made him worry for their safety.
“Have you thought about the fact that the two kidnappers could have just killed Monkey so why did they poison him instead? This means that Monkey probably didn’t hear some secret, instead, he’s probably holding something very important to them in his hands and before they obtain it, they do not want to kill him lightly. They poisoned him probably because they were afraid he would fall into our hands and had no choice but to do so.”
The more Shen Moru thought about this, the more interesting he found it and the more interested he became in whatever Monkey had in his hands.
“You’re saying that they would rather not have the thing than to have it fall into our hands? But that isn’t right. Since they don’t want to kill Monkey before they obtain the thing, why did they send a shooter to attack him?”
Mo Fei’s brows furrowed in thought as he countered Shen Moru’s opinion.
“There are two possibilities. One, it is possible that the person attacking Monkey and the people who kidnapped him are not on the same side. The other possibility is that there is internal strife amongst this group of people. One group wants to kill Monkey while the other group wants to obtain whatever is in Monkey’s hands.”
Shen Moru’s eyebrows raised and he analyzed logically. “If we want to get to the bottom of what happened, I’m afraid we’ll have to wait until Monkey comes back to know. Of course, we must seize the opportunity to interrogate the two kidnappers. Although I believe that they are just acting on orders and don’t know too much, we cannot give up on any clue, no matter how small. Who knows, we might be able to find something and follow it to understand the truth of the matter. Thus, the most important matter right now is to immediately increase the security measures here to ensure the safety of the two kidnappers.”
“Yes, I will immediately arrange for people to strengthen security and protect the two kidnappers. Who knows, perhaps we can use them as bait to catch the camouflage-person.”
The corner of Mo Fei’s mouth curved in anger. For someone to be killed without a sound in the tightly guarded interrogation rooms of the national security bureau was a great humiliation for him.
The two men discussed a bit longer in low voices before Mo Fei turned and left.
Shen Moru stood at the window and looked at the night sky with tightly furrowed brows. Suddenly, in a low voice, he called, “Wind Shadow.”
“Chief, present!” Wind Shadow appeared behind Shen Moru like a ghost, standing ramrod straight as he waited for his orders.
“Have Night travel alone, through the night, to Diannan to secretly protect them. Unless absolutely necessary, don’t show her face but she must ensure their safety!”
Shen Moru seemed to come to a great decision as he gave the order in a heavy voice.
“Chief, you want the Night Queen to take action? Will this be making too much out of nothing? Besides, her temper…”
Wind Shadow’s seemingly permanently icy face could not help but change, after all, that was one of their best in the department.
“Each year the country spends a great deal of money to keep them, it is time for them to take some action. I don’t care about some Night Queen and I don’t care about how proud and untamed she is, since she’s entered our department, she must listen to orders.”
Shen Moru said in a huff, his brows were raised and he seemed to have remembered some unhappy memories.
Wind Shadow moved his lips as if to speak then stopped. In the end, he straightened his body and replied sternly, “Yes, Chief, I will go contact her right now!”
Diannan Province was to the south-west of Shenzhou and it shared a border with Myan, Yue, and Aos. It was also a multi-cultural province.
The Simao prefecture in Yunnan belonged the southern end of the Hengduan Mountains. Much of the land was low lying and in river valleys. The climate was warm and there were not the four seasons that people were familiar with. It was abundantly green all year round and blossoming with bright flowers.
A beautiful Caiyang River flowed through the entire region from east to west, nurturing a primeval and mysterious forest. It neighboured Xishuanbanna’s Puwen town. There were no harsh winters and no scorching summers, its climate was charming, the typical tropical rainforest scene.
The two special forces soldiers and two medical personnel who had woken and had accepted Han Xi’s explanation were very cooperatively looking after the skinny monkey. The exhausted Xiao Nuo had already been replaced by the unbound driver and was closing her eyes in rest.
When the sky had just brightened, the helicopter which had reached Simao Prefecture was circling low in the air. Below it was a boundless sea of trees, swaying as far as the eye could see. Amongst the endless green, there were spots of red. Those were the trees blossoming with flowers.
Ding Ning, filled with energy and vitality, jumped down from the rope ladder. Turning, he looked toward Xiao Nuo who had followed behind him closely and couldn’t help giving an awkward laugh. “Why are you coming down?”
“I’ll go with you to look for the Triostar!” Xiao Nuo said without expression but her voice carried a determination that would not be questioned.
Ding Ning’s brows furrowed and he pleaded with her earnestly. “A tropical rainforest is not that fun. With the danger inside, even I can’t promise I’ll be able to return safely. You’re a girl, don’t take such a risk.”
“So what if I’m a girl? Are women less than men? Don’t think you’re stronger than me just because you rescued me. I’ve received outdoor survival training.”
Xiao Nuo’s brows raised slightly, a glimmer of stubbornness appearing on her expressionless face.
Ding Ning knew he had accidentally touched on another one of her sensitive points. Helplessly, he tidied his clothes and said, without good humor, “Then follow closely behind me. If anything happens. I might not be able to protect you.”
Xiao Nuo curled her lips in disdain and took big steps toward the forest. “Don’t be so arrogant, who knows will end up saving who?”
Looking at the retreating figure of this stubborn woman, Ding Ning followed with a shake of his head and a bitter smile. She really thought that she would be to move freely in this primeval forest because she had received some outdoor survival training. If she didn’t get a taste of the difficulties, she would never know what kind of danger was in these rainforests.
The helicopter circled a few times then flew toward the closest military base in Simao. They would refuel there and wait to meet up with Ding Ning and Xiao Nuo.
Regardless of how severe the consequences would be for hijacking a plane, since they were here already, Han Xi followed Ding Ning’s instructions to communicate and report to his superiors and waited for their opinion on how to proceed.
Han Xi still didn’t understand why Ding Ning was so confident that, at this time, their superiors would not question their accountability.
The perpetually spring primeval rainforest was filled with life. The trees were tall and short, thick and thin, vines wrapped around and drooped down. There tree roots and short grass on the ground with bush and shrubs at waist height. In the air, there was bracken of all sizes and multi-colored wildflowers that climbed upward. A few dense layers of tree crowns blocked out any and all remaining space.
In the depths of the secretive forest, there were many vines wrapped around the base of the trees, stretching in all directions, all kinds of odd things could be seen. There were some with a diameter of 50 centimeters, like a small tree; some were thin as ropes; some were round and some were flat; there were also square ones with four corners. They wound up and down, hung back and forth, stretched and wriggled, forming a swinging world with the strange vines in the tropical forest. There were even a few vines that hung down from the branches like a natural swing.
Aerophyte plants were a special part of the structure of tropical rainforests. This kind of plant had the apparatus and structure to quickly absorb and store rainwater. In a tropical rainforest, aerophyte plants sometimes densely covered tree branches and leaves, sometimes even occasionally mixed with shrubbery and brush, forming individual hanging gardens.
The amazing tropical rainforest scenery contained within this primeval forest made one deeply appreciate the beauty and mysteriousness of nature.
Entering into the depths of the forest, Ding Ning shielded Xiao Nuo behind him. Holding a military knife and alert, he took each step carefully, completely undistracted by the beautiful scenery surrounding him.
After finding a green colored plant, Ding Ning happily squeezed out the juice of the plant and smeared it on his body. A strange and pungent scent emanated from it, making Xiao Nuo cover her nose in protest and back far away from him.
Ding Ning raised his head and handed the plant to her. “Rub some on as well.”
“No, it smells disgusting.” Xiao Nuo took a few steps back in quick succession and made an expression as if she wanted to throw up.
Ding Ning looked at her disgusted expression and said noncommittally, “I hope you won’t regret it!”
“Hmph, I won’t regret it!” Xiao Nuo set her face and turned her head to look at a vine twisted around a tree.
Ding Ning shrugged. He pulled up the plant by the root and, after tidying it for a moment, put it inside his bag.
When they first entered the rainforest, Xiao Nuo was overflowing with interest and she looked at everything with fascination but very quickly, the hot and humid air in the rainforest soaked her back with sweat. As they moved deeper into the rainforest, she no longer had her earlier carefree and leisurely nature.
Her camouflage-colored training uniform stuck tightly to her lithe figure, outlining her wondrous curves.
Looking at in front of her at Ding Ning, lightly walking as if he were a man of leisure and without even a drop of sweat, Xiao Nuo pressed her lips tightly together and began to take off her outer layers.
“Don’t take anything off no matter how hot it gets.”
Ding Ning spoke suddenly as if he had eyes growing out of the back of his head.
Xiao Nuo started then said with embarrassment, “Why not?”
“Because the most dangerous things in here are not wild beasts, but venomous bugs.”
Ding Ning explained without even turning his head, “As long as you’re wearing clothing, the venomous bugs are unable to bit through your clothing. But if you take off your outer layers, the venomous bugs will bite through to your skin and will very quickly poison you. Although all life balances out and there are certain to be herbs to counter the poison nearby, I cannot promise that I can recognize all the poisons and have enough time to find an antidote.”
Xiao Nuo wiped away a handful of sweat from her forehead and said, unconvinced, “Then why are you wearing a short-sleeve t-shirt, will the bugs not bite you?”
